Environment – EU Reporterhttps://www.eureporter.co
Independent media for proper debateWed, 11 Sep 2019 20:19:36 +0000en-GB
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.3165163476European Union continues to lead global fight against #ClimateChangehttps://www.eureporter.co/frontpage/2019/09/12/european-union-continues-to-lead-global-fight-against-climatechange/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 04:00:14 +0000https://www.eureporter.co/?p=90075On 11 September, the European Commission adopted a Communication reaffirming the EU’s commitment to accelerated climate ambition. Preparing for the Climate Action Summit by the United Nations Secretary General in New York on 23 September, the Commission recalls that the European Union has been at the forefront of global climate action, negotiating an inclusive international framework to respond to this challenge, while acting domestically with unity, speed and decisiveness. The EU has put concrete actions behind its Paris Agreement commitments, in line with theJuncker Commission priority of establishing an Energy Union with a forward-looking climate change policy.

Commission Energy Union Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said: “With the Paris Agreement, for the first time all parties committed to reduce emissions. Now we must make sure these reductions are timely enough to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. The European Union will bring to New York the fruit of our work on the Energy Union: a realistic perspective of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, backed by ambitious policies set in binding legislation. The EU has ensured that all sectors contribute to the transition. At the Climate Action Summit, we hope our plans will inspire other countries, and we hope to be inspired. Our message is simple: Europe delivers.”

Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete said: “The European Union has a powerful story to tell at the UN Climate Summit later this month. We are a global climate leader and our climate action is an outstanding example of delivery, including in the context of our Long Term Strategy process. The EU’s approach is to ensure that climate ambition is not only about headline targets, but about actual delivery on our promises, about making sure that objectives will be fulfilled and emissions reductions will happen. As shown by the EU-wide survey published today, our approach has a very strong mandate from our citizens. I am proud to share these messages also in New York.”

The European Union is the first major economy to put in place a legally binding framework to deliver on its pledges under the Paris Agreement and it is successfully transitioning towards a low emissions economy, with a view to reach climate neutrality by 2050. Ambitious climate action enjoys strong democratic support. According to the latest special Eurobarometer on climate change as published today, 93% of Europeans believe that climate change is a serious problem.

Moreover, the EU and its member states, true to their commitment to multilateral action rooted in science, are actively preparing to communicate by early 2020 a long-term strategy with the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, as proposed by the Commission. The Commission presented its vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy in November 2018 and a large majority of member states endorsedthis vision in June 2019. According to the Eurobarometer, 92% of Europeans supported making the EU climate-neutral by 2050. Under the Paris Agreement, all parties have to present a long-term strategy by 2020.

Background

The EU continues to deliver on its commitments.

The EU has the most comprehensive and ambitious legislative framework on climate action in place and it is successfully transitioning towards a low emissions economy, aiming at climate neutrality by 2050 – between 1990 and 2017 its greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 23% while the economy grew by 58%.

The EU has already over-achieved its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target and has completed its unique binding legislative framework that will allow us to over-deliver on our climate targets for 2030. At the same time, the EU Adaptation Strategy has encouraged national, regional and local adaptation action since 2013.

Conscious that our emissions make up only around 9% of the global total, the EU is continuing its outreach and co-operation, financial and technical, to all partner countries. The EU remains the world’s leading donor of development assistance and the world’s biggest climate finance donor. Providing over 40% of the world’s public climate finance, the EU and its member states’ contributions have more than doubled since 2013, exceeding €20 billion annually.

Strong support from citizens

Ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit, the Commission carried out a special Eurobarometer on climate action and energy, which shows that in all EU Member States, citizens overwhelmingly support action taken to fight climate change, and want the EU and national leaders to increase their ambitions in this regard and strengthen Europe’s energy security.

The Eurobarometer shows that 93% of Europeans believe that climate change is a ‘serious problem’, and 79% see it as a ‘very serious problem’. Compared with the last Eurobarometer in 2017, climate change has overtaken international terrorism in being perceived as the second most serious problem facing the world today, after poverty, hunger and lack of drinking water.

The proportion of European citizens who have taken personal action to fight climate change has increased in all EU Member States to an EU wide average of more than nine in ten citizens (93%). The Eurobarometer results also show a demand for national governments to step up their own targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy (92%), and to give more public funding to renewable energy (84%). A strong majority of Europeans (72%) feel that reducing energy imports will have a positive impact on the economy and energy security, and 92% believe that EU must secure access to energy for all EU citizens.

Five months past the deadline, EU officials are still waiting for fifteen member states to detail their programmes to improve air quality.

National governments were due to submit comprehensive detailed plans to reduce their national emissions of dangerous pollutants – the so called ‘National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP)’ – by April 2019, but five months later less half of them have delivered.

EEB Clean Air Policy Officer Margherita Tolotto said: “This is an incredibly worrying sign: by ignoring this legal obligation, national governments are neglecting their duty to deliver cleaner air.”

Of the fifteen countries that failed at submitting a final plan, Croatia, Ireland, Latvia and Slovakia have only filed a draft version, while Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Spain did not file any plan at all, shows alist published by the European Commission.

As demonstrated by the wave of infringement procedures on air quality over the last years [1], too many member states are not doing enough to tackle air pollution and protect their citizens’ health.

Through their NAPCP governments are required to detail how they will achieve the national emission reduction targets for 2020 and 2030 that they agreed on when adopting the revised National Emission Ceilings Directive less than three years ago. [2] This Directive complements the role of the EU’s air quality standards, which set maximum concentration levels for certain pollutants in the air we breathe.

Tolotto said: “National governments must stop playing with citizens’ health and clarify as soon as possible how they intend to meet their minimum obligations to cut air pollutants. There is no time to lose.”

The Cohesion Fund invests €275.7 million for better drinking water supply and upgraded wastewater collection and treatment services in the Cluj and Sălaj counties, north-west Romania. Thanks to this EU-funded project, almost 240,000 inhabitants will enjoy better drinking water. Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella said: “Everyone should have access to good drinking water. With this cohesion project, the EU invests for the health and quality of life of our citizens, while protecting the environment and reducing water losses. This is a great example of what the EU can do for you.”The project will increase the local water supply connection rate from 79% to 95%. Works will extend the supply of drinking water using sources that are microbiologically controlled. They also include upgrades at the water treatment plant at Gilău, the rehabilitation of the underground water source Florești in Cluj and the construction or reconstruction of almost 1,550 km of networks. The project should be completed in July 2023.

On 27 August at the eighteenth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP18) in Geneva, delegates confirmed to ban the capture and trade of wild elephants destined for zoos and circuses around the world. A preliminary vote on this issue happened towards the beginning of the conference last week on 18 August, when the European Union and the United States both spoke against the ban to end the export of wild-caught elephants for captive use.

However, while the USA voted against, the EU could not vote at all, since a number of EU member states had not yet completed their NEWS accreditation when the vote was taken. Nevertheless, the preliminary vote passed in committee and then needed to be confirmed by the delegates in plenary session.

To ensure that this ban would make it across the finish line, more than 37 celebrities spoke out in support of the proposal and a coalition of NGOs signed a letter calling on EU decision makers to support the ban and stop the live trade of young and baby elephants. On 27 August the final vote and plenary session took place and the European Union eventually changed its position and proposed an amended text to clarify that trade on live wild elephants outside Africa should be allowed only in exceptional or emergency circumstances where it will significantly contribute to the conservation of the species.

The new amended text proposed by the EU was then voted and adopted, with the support of 75% of the voting countries. “Eurogroup for Animals welcomes the end of the cruel capture and export of wild African elephants from certain southern African countries to zoos and other captive facilities,” said Eurogroup for Animals Wildlife Programme Leader Ilaria Di Silvestre. “We congratulate the EU and its Member States for their constructive work to find a solution to the suffering of the elephants and to respect the will of the majority of African States.”

The African Elephant Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission has stated that it “does not endorse the removal of African elephants from the wild for any captive use”, believing there to be “no direct benefit for [their] in situ conservation”. During recent decades, captures have involved deliberately separating young elephants from their family members, resulting in injuries, psychological trauma and sometimes death for the captured animals, and leaving the remaining family groups fragmented and disrupted.

“By adopting this ban today countries all around the world have shown that animal welfare legitimately justifies severely restricting trade and it can take precedence over economic interests,” Di Silvestre concluded. “We trust that this will be taken into consideration in future decisions that CITES and the EU make.”

]]>89685845 million people still need access to #DrinkingWater to meet 2030 #UN goalhttps://www.eureporter.co/frontpage/2019/08/30/845-million-people-still-need-access-to-drinkingwater-to-meet-2030-un-goal-2/
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 04:00:14 +0000https://www.eureporter.co/?p=89647Seven countries still provide less than half of their population with access to basic drinking water, while another 40 countries have no basic sanitation services for at least 50% of citizens, new research shows.

It comes to light after a new study, entitled Forward-Thinking Countries, reveals the most and least progressive nations based on key social, environmental and economic indicators.

The proportion of the global population using safe drinking water services was reported to be 71% in 2017, with an additional 19% using basic services. This means that 785 million people still lacked access to even basic drinking water according to the latest available figures.

Out of the 146 assessed countries, just four provide 100% of the population with access to at least basic drinking water and basic sanitation: New Zealand, Israel, Qatar and Singapore.

The UN has called for universal and equal access to safe and affordable drinking services by 2030, to reduce the preventable health risks caused by contaminated or polluted water. These risks include infectious diseases like cholera, hepatitis A and typhoid fever.

Analysis reveals that the countries with the poorest water provisions experience a higher number of deaths from infectious diseases compared to countries with better provisions.

In countries where less than 70% of people have access to basic drinking water, an average of 486 deaths per 100,000 people were reported in 2018, compared to just 88.3 deaths per 100,000 people from countries with better drinking water services.

Of the 146 countries with water provision data available, the Central African Republic experienced the most deaths from infectious diseases in 2018, with 1,209.3 reported per 100,000 people. Just 54% of the population has access to at least basic drinking water, and 25% has access to basic sanitation facilities.

Countries with poor water provisions also experience a higher infant mortality rate. Countries where less than 70% of the population have access to basic drinking water reported 486 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to just 88.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in other locations.

Countries with the poorest water provisions:

Country

Access to at Least Basic Drinking Water (% of Population)

Access to at Least Basic Sanitation Facilities (% of Population)

% of Population with Access to Basic Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation

Eritrea

19.29

11.26

2.17

Ethiopia

39.12

7.08

2.77

Chad

42.54

9.55

4.06

Madagascar

50.62

9.69

4.91

Niger

45.8

12.9

5.93

As well as assessing water provision and sanitation facilities,Forward-Thinking Countries analyses reports from the United Nations, the Global Gender Gap Report, UNICEF and non-governmental organisations to reveal which countries have made the most progress towards global equality over the past five years.

The analysis shows that Norway is the most progressive country, having closed 83.5% of its gender gap and scoring 90.26 points out of 100 on the Social Progress Index. This measures indicators that feed into basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing and opportunity.

When compared to the target boundaries for key issues, the world underperforms in many aspects of social progress relative to economic resources. The largest area of under-performance is water and sanitation, which has only seen minor improvement (+1.61 points) over the past five years.

The research is published ahead of World Water Week, which is organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute and starts on 25th August. The event aims to address global water issues such as provision, pollution and sanitation, and related international development goals.

]]>89647#WorldWildlifeConference – EU pushes for better protection of world’s most threatened specieshttps://www.eureporter.co/frontpage/2019/08/19/worldwildlifeconference-eu-pushes-for-better-protection-of-worlds-most-threatened-species/
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 05:30:06 +0000https://www.eureporter.co/?p=89368The EU joined other parties at the 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) to the UN Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which started in Geneva, Switzerland on 17-18 August, to take additional measures to protect the world’s most threatened species against over-exploitation through international trade.

CITES is a global treaty that seeks to make international trade in wildlife sustainable and to counter illegal trade. The EU will push for more effective implementation of existing rules, including through a proposed Resolution on measures for ensuring the legality of trade under the Convention. In line with its priorities under the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking, at CoP18 the EU will promote better enforcement of the Convention’s provisions by all Parties, in particular by those countries that repeatedly fail to implement their obligations and which may need additional support to avoid trade sanctions as a matter of last resort.

This is an absolute must to address illegal poaching and trafficking affecting elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, pangolins and rosewood. The adoption of a new ‘Strategic Vision’ for CITES for the years 2021 to 2030 will provide an opportunity to consolidate and clarify the role of CITES in the broader context of international environmental governance. This also includes the post-2020 biodiversity framework that is being developed in parallel under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

]]>89368Commission imposes countervailing duties on #IndonesianBiodieselhttps://www.eureporter.co/frontpage/2019/08/14/commission-imposes-countervailing-duties-on-indonesianbiodiesel/
Wed, 14 Aug 2019 05:30:26 +0000https://www.eureporter.co/?p=89233The European Commission has imposed countervailing duties of 8% to 18% on imports of subsidized biodiesel from Indonesia. The measure aims to restore a level-playing field for EU biodiesel producers. The Commission’s in-depth investigation found that Indonesian biodiesel producers benefit from grants, tax benefits and access to raw materials below market prices.

This inflicts a threat of economic damage to EU producers. The new import duties are imposed on a provisional basis and the investigation will continue with a possibility to impose definitive measures by mid-December 2019. While the predominant raw material for biodiesel production in Indonesia is palm oil, the focus of the investigation is on the possible subsidization of biodiesel production, irrespective of the raw material used. The EU biodiesel market is worth an estimated €9 billion a year, with imports from Indonesia of reaching some €400 million.